We would like to invite you to a discussion on the future for health and care services, and to help us prioritise changes and improvements that need to be made to ensure our populations continue to have the best possible care.

Now that the NHS Long-term plan has been published, it is the right time for us to talk with our communities about what the areas are that we need to focus on to ensure services remain sustainable and right for patients.

These discussions will build on what we have already heard through our “Big Health and Care Conversation” across the area, and help us think about how we use the available money for health and care in the best possible way: “We can do anything, but not everything”.

Our discussions will be focused on the FUTURE of health and care:Facing up to our challengesUnderstanding NeedTransforming servicesUnwarranted variation – ensuring this does not happenResources and how we use them most effectivelyEquality of access and care for our diverse population

We have a number of opportunities to join our discussions in person, and we will also be producing an online survey, in order to hear from as many people as we can.

To book a place at any of our discussions, please follow the links below:

That support could come in the form of audio or braille bills, or access to bottled water during an emergency, whatever your needs, we’ll work with you to find a solution. Those needs may be temporary or everyday so whether you have limited mobility, disabilities or a chronic illness, a medical condition, or difficulty seeing, hearing, or communicating, you’re able to join the register. You can also add your name to the register if you’re an expecting or new parent, or you have a short-term medical condition.

There were cries of ‘shame on you’ and disgusting’ from the public gallery as Mid Sussex District Council approved a gypsy and traveller site in Copthorne.

Mid-Sussex was both applicant and planning authority for the application to change the use of land at Lower Hollow Copse to house a total of 13 pitches across two areas.

Before the planning meeting, in Haywards Heath, protesters gathered outside the council building bearing placards calling for Copthorne to be treated fairly and branding the area’s district plan a ‘sham’.

Mark Kosky, of the Pot Common Protection Association said “We feel that it’s unsuitable for a site due to its dangerous nature.

“It’s a very complex issue and we feel that Mid Sussex are not treating the gypsy community fairly nor the local community fairly.

“We fully understand the gypsy requirements and in fact, support them. But the district plan itself states that they should be in the strategic sites at Burgess Hill and Hassocks.”

There had been plenty of objections to the application, with a 2,500-name petition submitted, as well as more than 380 letters opposing the plan.

Among the concerns were noise levels, the relatively small size of some of the pitches, and the safety of children who would have to cross the A264 to get to school.

A spokesman for Worth Parish Council asked the meeting: “It3 considered dangerous for adults to cross this road. How can it be safe for children to cross it on the way to school?”

Tony Dorey (Con, Copthorne & Worth) sent a written submission to the meeting, as he was unable to attend.

In it, he questioned the viability and location of the site, the validity of the application, and the ‘actions and methods that have been adopted to arrive at the submission of this application’.

Mr Dorey listed concerns such as the application being a joint submission between the council and the land owner, but funded and driven by the council; and the fact there would be council-owned and privately-owned plots.

He said that he had been assured by senior officers that they were confident of the legality of the application, but he added that the ‘number and severity of issues surrounding it do create the perception among the local residents that something contrived has gone on’.

Chairman Robert Salisbury (Con, Cuckfield) told members: “We are here with clear, open minds and I will not accept anything that looks as though it is slightly biased.”

Join us at the Health & Wellbeing Market Place event being held in the Parksuite and Main Conference Hall at Parkside, Horsham on Thursday 14th March. Drop in any time between 10:30 – 1:00 pm

With 65 market stalls promoting local council, health and voluntary services, this is a brilliant opportunity to come along and find out how local organisations can help you to live well.

Visitors can also participate in a range of activities including a free wellbeing MOT for tailored advice on how small changes can benefit wellbeing, audiology checks, mobility scooter safety advice, a Connect to Support online information help-point, and relax over a free cup of tea or coffee in the café area.

We would like to invite you to a discussion on the future for health and care services, and to help us prioritise changes and improvements that need to be made to ensure our populations continue to have the best possible care.

Now that the NHS Long-term plan has been published, it is the right time for us to talk with our communities about what the areas are that we need to focus on to ensure services remain sustainable and right for patients.

These discussions will build on what we have already heard through our “Big Health and Care Conversation” across the area, and help us think about how we use the available money for health and care in the best possible way: “We can do anything, but not everything”.

Our discussions will be focused on the FUTURE of health and care:Facing up to our challengesUnderstanding NeedTransforming servicesUnwarranted variation – ensuring this does not happenResources and how we use them most effectivelyEquality of access and care for our diverse population

We have a number of opportunities to join our discussions in person, and we will also be producing an online survey, in order to hear from as many people as we can.

To book a place at any of our discussions, please follow the links below:

A majority stake in Gatwick Airport is to be sold to French operator Vinci Airports in a £2.9 billion deal.

The French firm will buy 50.01 per cent of the airport, the UK’s second busiest, while the other 49.99 per cent will be retained by current Gatwick owners Global Infrastructure Partners.

Gatwick chairman Sir David Higgins today described the move as ‘a vote of confidence in Gatwick and its future potential.’

Announcement of the sale came just days after mass disruption was caused at Gatwick by reports of illegal drones invading the airport’s airspace. The airport came to a complete standstill and thousands of people had their travel plans cancelled.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said the new deal with Vinci Airports would not mean any changes to the immediate running of Gatwick. He said he expected the transaction to be completed by the middle of next year.

“This is good news for the airport as it will mean both continuity but also further investment for passengers over the coming years to improve our services further. We currently fly to over 220 destinations around the world and are ambitious to do even more in the years ahead.”

He added: “While today’s announcement marks an exciting moment in Gatwick’s future, my team and I remain focussed on doing everything we can to. help ensure that travel runs as smoothly as possible for everyone over the rest of the festive period.”

Gatwick operates flights to more than 228 destinations in 74 countries for 46 million passengers a year. It generates around 85,000 jobs, with 24,000 of them at the airport itself.

In a draft masterplan revealed in October, Gatwick bosses set out proposals for growth including the routine use of the airport’s current stand-by runway as a second runway, along with retention of land to the south of the airport as a possible future third runway.

A public consultation over the masterplan runs until January 10th.

Protesters say the deal supports cast against expansion

Protest group CAGNE (Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions) says the sale announcement is another reason to oppose the Gatwick Masterplan.

The group is calling for people to object to the plan in time for the January 10 deadline for comments.

“This purchase by a French infrastructure company, Vinci, should send a strong message to communities oI Sussex, Surrey and Kent that they will be Seeking to grow this West Sussex airport, at any price to those on the ground that suffer the ramifications of airport, expansion said a statement from CAGNE.

“It has been clear from the outset that Gatwick owner’s pursuit to increase share price by the launch of their master plan for growth of this airport, was to benefit shareholders and not the local economy.

“Their plan to increase concentrated flight paths from the main runway ignores the impact these routes already have on the wellbeing of residents day and night; using the emergency runways as a second runway by the backdoor, and safeguarding the land for a third runway whilst the Government has been clear that they support Heathrow expansion as it links up with other Government major infrastructure projects.

“The Gatwick master plan has obviously been used to entice investors and would seem to have succeeded with today’s announcement.

“This new profit seeking infrastructure company will clearly be looking to implement growth to recoup their investment as GIP shareholders have obtained today whilst ignoring the lack of soft and hard infrastructure; the burden this airport already creates for the local communities, local authorities and those in a 30 mile radius that suffer the intolerable noise of aircraft now.”

It lays out three possible expansion plans, including the conversion of the existing emergency runway into full-time use.

The council will be submitting a response to the masterplan as part of a 12-week consultation, which ends on January to, and members were asked for their views.

But they were left frustrated by the information available, calling the masterplan ‘vague’ and ‘lacking in detail’.

Lt Col George Barton (Con, Sompting and North Lancing) said the plan had more ‘ifs, buts and maybes’ than any report he had read.

Asking how members were supposed to criticise, support or weigh up what was in it, he added: “I find this position we’re in now almost impossible.”

He was supported by Heidi Brunsdon (Con, Imberdown), who said: ‘We simply have no details about this plan. “It is a marketing plan for the benefit of a private company who frankly, as I see it, are simply out there trying to promote their own business, with little or no concern about the West Sussex impact for our residents.”

When asked about the amount of detail in the masterplan, airport spokesman Russell Guthrie said: “We are following best practice and consulting people early on our intentions. “While ,this means that not all the detailed work has yet been worked up, more detailed plans, and a public consultation, are likely to follow if we pursue our plans to use our standby runway.”

The impact on residents in Crawley was a point made by Brenda Smith (Lab, Langley Green and Ifield East), who described the masterplan as ‘a second runway by stealth, and said expansion at Gatwick would be ‘absolutely disastrous’.

A number of issues were discussed by members, with concerns raised about sleep deprivation due to noise levels, damage to the local infrastructure from the increase in traffic, and the impact on the environment.

Committee chairman Andrew Barrett-Miles (Con, Burgess Hill North) said: “Growth of business is a good thing. It’s part of our West Sussex plan. But it can’t be at the expense of the environment, of people. There has to be a balance.”

There were also concerns that, if Gatwick was allowed to grow too large, it would suppress economic diversity in the area and lead to ‘significant economic issues’ for the county if anything went badly wrong.

Members suggested that the council could seek a new legal agreement with Gatwick, once the current one expires next year, to safeguard land south of the existing runway for at least 15 years, preventing the building of a second runway.

Mr Guthrie added that Gatwick’s plans could have a ‘significant positive impact on local people, with the possibility of 20,000 new jobs and £2bn in economic growth.

Gatwick Airport says it has reduced the number of residents suffering noise from Jets.

It says newer planes are up to 50 per cent quieter than older planes.

An airport spokesman said: “The area in the airport’s noise footprint, the standard measurement 52dB leq contour, has reduced by nine per cent since 2008 while numbers of flights in the last decade have grown nine per cent.

“This reduction has been driven by many of the airports new routes being flown by new generation aircraft, for example the Airbus A320-neo -aircraft which are up to 50 per cent quieter on departure than the current models which they are replacing.”

He added: “More recently Gatwick has focused on incentivising airlines to modify their current aircraft fleet. 97 per cent of the Airbus A320 family of aircraft flying from Gatwick, which account for half of all of the airport’s flights, have been modified to reduce noise.

“This modification was a significant factor in reducing the airport’s noise footprint by three per cent in the last full calendar year according to independent noise analysis by the Civil Aviation Authority, despite a three per cent increase in traffic over the same period.”

New generation aircraft, such as the Airbus A320-neo, will be phased in over the coming years.

Gatwick estimates around 30 per cent of its fleet will comprise new quieter aircraft by 2022, 60 per cent by 2027 and 90 per cent by 2032. Growth plans for Gatwick Airport – including controversial proposals for a second runway – were unveiled in October.

Three possible expansion plans are being put forward including the conversion of the airport’s existing emergency runway into full-time use which bosses say could create as many as 20,000 new jobs.